Metronome



E. w. PANICCI ET AL 3,380,332

METRONOME 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS ELIO W. PANICCI EDWARD J. GUTOWSKI ATTORNEYS April 30, 1968 Filed March 12, 1965 April 30, 1968 PANICC] ET AL 3,380,332

METRONOME Filed March 12, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet [NVEN'TORS ELIO W. PANICCI EDWARD J. GUTOWSKI aria 241?,

ATTORNEYS United States Patent Oflice 3,380,332 Patented Apr. 30, 1968 3,380,332 METRONOME Elio W. Pauicci, Meriden, and Edward J. Gutowsloi,

Thornaston, Conn, assignors to Tele-(Jonn Enterprises, llnc., Wolcott, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut FiledMar. 12, 1965, Ser. No. 439,205 14 Claims. (Cl. 84-484) ABSCT OF 'THE DISCLOSURE the pawl.

The present invention relates to a timing device and more particularly to an electromechanical metronome for producing a plurality of distinct signals both at selected ratios and at selected frequencies.

It is a principal object of the present invention to provide an electromechanical metronome which requires no calibration, yet produces a variety of exact time increments delineated with high accuracy and in accordance with a wide scale of predetermined settings.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a time measuring device suitable for use in conjunction with musical arrangements to monitor or indicate the rhythmic beat and measure combinations thereof, the device being adapted for continuous constant speed operation while being capable of translating such operation into a complete scale of varying time increment and a complete selection of the tempo or beat frequencies.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide a metronome of the type described of simple design using duplicate parts to facilitate the manufacture thereof.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereafter set forth and the scope of the application which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view partially broken away of a metronome illustrating the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a portion of the toothed drum assembly showing a first embodiment of tooth construction;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 illustrating a modified embodiment of tooth construction; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 2.

Referring now to the drawings in greater detail wherein like referenced characters indicate like parts throughout the several figures, there is shown in FIG. 1 a metronome, generally designated having an external cabinet or housing 12 of polyhedral configuration. The housing 12 is provided with a front face 14 possessing a pair of generally horizontal longitudinally extending slots 16, 18. As shown, the front face 14- may also contain an indicator light 20 and an OFF/ON switch 22 for activating and deactivating the metronome mechanism. The switch 22 is suitably connected to a source of electricity to control a synchronous or constant speed electric motor 24 mounted within the housing 12 on a base plate 26. The motor in turn drives a toothed drum assembly which actuates a pawl connected to the signal producing portions of the metronome.

Upwardly extending from the base plate 26 is a pair of L-shaped support members 28, 30 positioned wit-h the housing 12 adjacent the opposite ends thereof. Pivotally mounted on the base legs 32, 34 of the respective supports 28, 3t) and extending longitudinally therebetween is a generally horizontal support rod 36 provided with an outwardly extending flange 38 which supports portions of the signal producing means of the metronome 10. Also depending from support members 28, 30 between the respective upright legs 40, 42 thereof is the fixedly positioned slide rail. 44 oriented in parallel relationship to rod 36. As shown, the rail 44 slideably supports the beat rate control member 46 and the measure control member 48 The synchronous electric motor 24 is mounted, as best seen from FIG. 2, so that its drive shaft is disposed horizontally and at a slight acute angle to the front face 14 of the housing. The motor is connected by suitable means not shown to a drive pinion 50 which preferably has a drive output of 8 revolutions per minute. The pinion Sti in turn cooperates with the internal ring gear 52 of drum 54 to rotate the entire drum assembly generally designated 56.

The drum assembly 56 consists of a bank of three frustoconical drums 54, 58, 60 each having axial mounting shafts, 62, 64, 66, respectively, horizontally anchored on the base plate 26 by means of the brackets 68. The mounting shafts are all located in the same horizontal plane and are uniformly angularly disposed with respect to the front face 14. The angular disposition of the drum assembly mounting shafts is substantially the same as that of the synchronous motor 24 and is such that the frustoconical sides of all the drums present a continuous horizontal line or segment lying in a single vertical plane substantially parallel to the front face 14 and the slide rail 44, and tangent to each of the drums 54, 58, 60 of the drum assembly as.

As shown, the three identical frustoconical drums 54, 58, and 60, each possess internal ring gears 52, 70, 72 circumscribing the internal periphery of their respective conical bases while drums 54 and 58 possess mating external driving gears 74, 76 located at the opposite extremity thereof to drive the drum immediately adjacent thereto in the same rotational direction that drum 54 is driven by pinion 50. Thus, it can be seen that the pinion 5t) imparts rotational movement to the drum assembly 56 in such a manner that the drums 54, 58, and 60, are driven in tandem. However, the gear ratio between adjacent drums is such that each succeeding drum will rotate at a slower speed than its corresponding driving member. For example, if the pinion 50 imparts to drum 54 a constant speed of 2 revolutions per minute and if the gear ratio between the respective drums is maintained at 2:1, drum 58 will rotate at a speed of 1 revolution per minute While the drum 60 will rotate at /2 revolution per minute, It will be understood, however, despite the different speeds of the respective drums, that each drum will move at a synchronous or constant speed, thus effectuating and maintaining extremely high accuracy in the operation of the metronome while obviating the necessity of adjusting or calibrating the apparatus.

Each drum of the assembly 56 is comprised of a plurality of fixedly positioned discs 80 of progressively smaller diameter, each disc having on its outer surface a specified number of ratchet teeth 82. In this manner it is possible to provide each drum with the ability to impart a specified number of actuations for a given time period, depending upon the relative longitudinal position of the beat control member 46 relative to the drum assembly 56. It will therefore be appreciated that such a plurality of identical toothed drums all driven continuously in the same clockwise rotational direction, as viewed from the left of FIG. 1, and at known speed ratios will provide a complete linear scale of heat frequencies as required for the full tempo range of musical compositions.

However, the exact configuration of the ratchet teeth which will actuate the beat control member 46 during rotation of the drum assembly 56 may vary substantially. Illustratively, the face surface 84 of each ratchet tooth 82 may have a generally rectangular configuration as shown in FIG. 3 or may exhibit the generally triangular shape 86 shown in FIG. 4.

The pickup or beat control member 46, as previously mentioned, is slideably mounted on the stationary support rail 44 for longitudinal movement along the extent of slot 16 in the front face 14. The control 46 comprises a slightly arcuate picker or pawl member 88 provided at one end thereof with a hook 90 which acts against the drum assembly 56 and is tripped by successive teeth 82 during the clockwise rotation of the assembly, The opposite end of pawl 88 is provided with a foot 92 which acts against the longitudinal flange 38 protruding outwardl.y from the pivotally mounted support rod 36. Depending from flange 38 by means of a slightly bent, forwardly extending arm 94 and positioned immediately above a sounding board 96 is a clapper 98 for producing an audible signal each time the hook 90 is tripped by a tooth 82. The weight of the clapper 98 is sutficient to maintain contact between the flange 38 and the foot 92 of the pawl so as to hold the hook 90 in constant intimate contact with the drum assembly 56 during the operation of the device. Thus, as the drum assembly is rotated and successive segments of teeth move downwardly past the slide rod 44, the hook 90 of the pawl 88 will follow the contour of an individual tooth within that segment and will thereby be forced outwardly toward the front face 14. The outward movement of the hook 90 will cause the foot 92 to act against the flange 38 thereby lifting the clapper 98 out of contact with the sounding board 96. However, as the hook 90 reaches the apex of the tooth 82 and falls inwardly, the clapper is permitted to fall against the sounding board thereby effectuating the desired audible signal. As will be appreciated, the indicator light 20 may also be interconnected by suitable means, not shown, so as to give a visual signal which coincides with the audible signal produced by the clapper falling on the sounding board.

It is an advantage of the present invention that the control member 46 may be easily and quickly moved along the longitudinal extent of slot 16 without contacting, scraping or in any way damaging the drum assembly 56 and may be positioned accurately and immovably adjacent any one of the discs 80 which make up the drum assembly 56 thereby quickly and accurately changing the tempo of the signal to any position along the linear scale. In the embodiment chosen for illustrative purposes this result is effectuated by providing a generally U-shaped carriage member 100 which is slideably and pivotally mounted on the stationary support rail 44 in such a manner as to position the pawl 88 intermediate the sides thereof. Adjoining the free ends of the U-shaped carriage 100 is a lift bar 102 which passes inwardly of the pawl 88 adjacent the gullet of the hook portion 90 thereof. Integral with the carriage 100 and extending outwardly therefrom through the slot 16 is a finger control flange 104 which is further provided with a rib 106 at the point of juncture between the flange 104 and the carriage 100. The rib 106 cooperates with one of a plurality of detent notches 108 located on the inner surface of front face 14 adjacent the top edge of slot 16. Additionally, the pawl 88 is relatively fixedly positioned with respect to the carriage 'by means of spacers 110 which act to hold the pawl 88 against lateral movement between the sides of carriage 100. Thus, the cooperation between the rib 106 and the notch 108 provides accurate location of the pawl 88 in atignment with one of the discs 80 of the drum assembly 56 when the finger control flange 104 is depressed so as to disconnect the rib 106 from the detent notch 108 and thereby rotate the carriage 100 about the support rail 44. The circumscribing lift bar 102 contacts the hook 90 of the pawl 88 thereby moving the hook out of contact with the teeth of the drum assembly and facilitating movement of the pawl to any desired location along the extent of slot 16. It will be appreciated that in this manner the drum assembly is protected for inadvertent damage by the hook during the displacement movements thereof.

Fixedly connected to one end of the pivot support rod 36 is a drive link 112 adapted to actuate a cam assembly, generally designated 114. As shown, the cam assembly 114 is fixedly mounted on the drive rod 116 which is provided on an extremity thereof with a ratchet drive wheel 118. Operatively connecting the ratchet wheel 118 to the rod 36 is the hook portion 120 of the link 1112 which is continuously biased into contact with the ratchet wheel 118 by means of the gradually S-shaped leaf spring 122. The spring 122 in addition to biasing the hook 120 against the ratchet wheel 118 provides a catch which prevents re verse movement of the ratchet wheel as the hook slides forwardly to contact successive teeth of the wheel 118.

Spaced along the drive rod 116 are a plurality of disclike cam members which comprise the cam assembly 114 and cooperate with the protruding cam follower portion 124 of the striker 126 to permit or prevent actuation of the accent or measure signal. The striker 126 is pivotally mounted on the slide rail 44 in a manner similar to pawl 88 and, as best seen in FIG. 5, extends rearwardly and downwardly therefrom to a terminal striker head 128 positioned so as to contact the generally bellshaped signal member 130. Integral with the striker 126 and extending downwardly therefrom intermediate the striker head 128 and the cam follower 124 is a lug 132 which is adapted to contact the flange 38 so as to facilitate actuation of the striker 126 thereby. Thus, as the flange 38 is elevated or lifted by the foot 92 of the pawl 88 it in turn acts against the lug portion 132 to lift the striker head 128 above the signal member 130. At the same time, the rotation of the rod 36 causes the drive link 112 to rotate the ratchet drive wheel 118 and the cam assembly 114 associated therewith. The movement of the cams will be such that the protruding cam follower 124 may or may not be in registry with one of the cam notches 133 located on the periphery of the cam surfaces. When the follower 124 is not in registry with a notch 133 the downward movement of the striker 126 is restricted, preventing contact between the striker head 128 and the signal member 130. As shown in FIG. 5, however, registration between the follower and the notch permits further downward movement of striker head 12S sufficient to contact member and produce the desired signal.

In the embodiment chosen for illustrative purposes there is shown five cam discs 135, 137, 139, 141 and 143 respectively, which have, from left to right, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 0 surface notches symmetrically located on the periphery thereof. The ratchet drive wheel 118 is shown to have twelve ratchet teeth spaced about its periphery and is adapted so that each actuation of the flange 38 causes only a single tooth movement of the ratchet wheel. Consequently, if the striker 126 is positioned above the cam wheel on the extreme left, there will result one accent or measure signal on every sixth beat sounded by the clapper 98 on the sounding board 96. As the striker is moved to the right to align it with consecutive cam discs, it will cause an accent signal on the fourth, third and second heat respectively. Finally, when positioned over cam 143 which does not contain any surface notches, the striker 126 will be prevented from efr'ectuating any accent or measure signal whatsoever thereby providing only the tempo signal.

Placement and retention of the measure control member 48 including the striker 126 over a particular cam disc may be accomplished in a manner similar to the placement of the pawl 88 adjacent an individual toothed disc 80. Accordingly, there is provided a generally U- shaped carriage member 134 pivotally and slideably mounted on rail 44 in such a manner as to partially enclose the striker 126. Joining the free ends of the U- shaped carriage 134, so as to completely circumscribe the striker, is a lift bar 136 which passes inwardly of the top portion 138 of striker 126. Integral with the carriage 134 and extending outwardly therefrom through the slot 18 is a finger control flange 140 and a generally triangular rib 142. The rib 142 cooperates with a detent notch 144 on the inner surface of front face 14 adjacent the top edge of the slot 18 and provides accurate location of the striker 126 in alignment with one of the disclike cam members. When the finger control flange 140 is depressed so as to disconnect the rib 142 from a detent notch 144, the lift bar 136 contacts the end portion 138 of striker 126 causing the striker to rotate and dislodge the cam follower 124 from a cam notch 133, thus facilitating the movement of the striker 126 to a diiferent measure position.

As is readily apparent from the foregoing description, the electromechanical rhythmic timing device of the present invention provides an improved linear scale of time increments having a wide range of operating capability and couples therewith extremely high accuracy of operation. Further, the device exhibits a pleasing appearance and is strong, sturdy, and lightweight, permitting the portable use thereof. Finally, it is constructed so that all moving parts are operated at a continuous constant speed thereby requiring no calibration.

As will be apparent to persons skilled in the art, various modifications and adaptations of the structure abovedescribed will become readily apparent without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a metronome comprising a constant speed motor, a rotatable drum assembly operable by said motor, plural signal means for producing beat and measure signals in rhythmical combination and external control means, the improvement wherein the drum assembly comprises a plurality of signal actuating frustoconical drums arranged for tandem operation wherein said drums are adapted to drive a next adjacent drum at a different relative speed, all of said drums being further arranged to provide a continuous linear surface segment located in a single plane tangential to said drums.

2. A metronome as set forth in claim 1 wherein each drum is comprised of a plurality of discs of different diameter consecutively arranged to result in the frustoconical configuration, each of said discs having a plurality of ratchet teeth on the periphery thereof for actuating a signal.

3. In a metronome comprising a synchronous motor, a rotatable drum assembly operable by said motor, plural signal means for producing beat and measure signals in rhythmical combination and external control means, the improvement wherein the drum assembly comprises a plurality of identical drums arranged for tandem operation and having cooperating drive means thereon whereby each of said drums will transfer rotary motion to a next adjacent drum to drive said adjacent drum at a slower speed, all of said drums being further arranged to provide a linear surface segment located within a single plane.

4. In an electromechanical rhythmic timing device comprising a synchronous electric motor, a rotatable drum assembly operable by said motor, plural signal means for producing a beat and measure signal in rhythmical combination and external control means, the improvement wherein the drum assembly comprises a plurality of identical frustoconical drums having internal ring gears around the base thereof and external peripheral gears on the top thereof, said drums being arranged for tandem operation wherein the external gears of one of said drums mesh with the internal gears of a next adjacent drum to drive said adjacent drum at a slower speed corresponding to the gear ratio between the external and internal gears on each drum, all of said drums being further arranged to provide a continuous horizontal surface segment located in a single vertical plane adjacent the control means.

5. A rhythmic timing device comprising in combination, a synchronous motor including means connected thereto for imparting constant speed rotary motion to a drum assembly; a rotatably mounted drum assembly comprising a plurality of tandem driven drums, said drum assembly providing a continuous linear segment thereof positioned Within a single plane tangential to the assembly; a plurality of signal producing means; a signal rate control mechanism slideable adjacent and parallel to said segment, said mechanism including a pivotally mounted member adapted to contact said segment and actuate at least one of the signal producing means; and means operable by said mechanism for preventing and permitting the actuation of a signal to thereby effectuate a desired rhythmic combination.

6. A rhythmic timing device comprising in combination, drive means for producing constant speed rotary motion; movable means connected to said drive means, said movable means providing .a linear signal actuation segment, portions of said segment being movable at fixed speed ratios relative to each other, said portions being driven in tandem; signal producing means; means movable adjacent and parallel to said linear segment for cooperation with the segment and the signal producing means to effectuate a signal; and means operable by the cooperating means for controlling actuation of one of said signal producing means in accordance with a desired rhythmic arrangement.

7. A device as set forth in claim 6 wherein each drum is comprised of a plurality of discs of different diameter consecutively arranged to result in a frustoconical configuration, each of said discs having a plurality of ratchet teeth on the periphery thereof for actuating a signal.

8. A device as set forth in claim 6 wherein the means operable by the signal rate control mechanism includes a rotatably mounted cam assembly adapted for periodic actuation.

9. A device as set forth in claim 8 wherein the cam assembly is provided with a plurality of cam discs, and a slideable rhythm control means having a cam follower positioned adjacent one of said discs and cooperating therewith for preventing and permitting the actuation of the desired rhythmic signal.

10. A metronome comprising in combination, a housing having a front face provided with at least one longitudinally extending slot; a synchronous motor mounted in the housing; a drum assembly rotatably mounted within the housing comprising a plurality of tandem driven fru-stoconical toothed drums, said drum assembly providing throughout its entire length a continuous toothed segment parallel to said slot; means interconnecting the motor and the drum assembly for imparting constant speed rotary motion thereto; audible beat and measure signal producing means; a signal rate control mechanism slideable adjacent and parallel to said segment, said mechanism including positioning means extending through said slot and a pivotally mounted pawl contacting the toothed drum assembly and adapted to actuate the beat and measure signal producing means; and a cam assembly operatively connected to the control mechanism for preventing and permitting the actuation of the measure signal means only in accordance with a set ratio.

11. A metronome as set forth in claim 10 wherein each drum is comprised of a plurality of discs of dilIerent diameter consecutively arranged to result in the frustoconical configuration, each of said discs having a plurality of ratchet teeth on the periphery thereof for actuating the pawl.

12. A device as set forth in claim 10 including slideably mounted rhythm control means having a cam follower cooperative with the cam assembly for preventing and permitting the actuation of an audible signal.

13. An electromechanical metronome comprising in combination, a housing having a plurality of longitudinally extending horizontal slots; a drum assembly rotatably mounted in the housing comprising a plurality of tandem driven identical frustoconical toothed drums, said drum assembly providing throughout its entire length a continuous horizontal toothed segment adjacent and parallel to one of the slots; a synchronous electric motor mounted in the housing including means for operatively interconnecting thereto the drum assembly; a plurality of audible signal producing means within the housing; a signal rate control mechanism slideable adjacent and parallel to said segment, said mechanism including manually 0 operable positioning means extending through one of said slots and a pivotally mounted pawl adapted to contact the toothed segment and actuate the signal means; and a cam assembly operatively connected to the control mechanism for preventing and permitting the actuation of only one of said signal means to thereby elfectuate a desired rhythmic combination.

14. A device as set forth in claim 13 wherein at least one of said slots is substantially longer than its immediate adjacent slot and is provided with a plurality of notches coinciding with positions of different signal rate, said control mechanism having means cooperative with the notches to removably maintain the mechanism at a desired position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,783,537 12/1930 Goudsmit 84484 1,817,819 8/1931 Healey 74-348 3,095,775 7/ 1963 Billotti et al. 84484 FOREIGN PATENTS 653,305 3/ 1929 France.

RIGHARD B. WILKINSON, Primary Examiner.

L. R. FRANKLIN, Assistant Examiner. 

